WATCH: Tensions between Tawanchai PK Saenchai, Masaaki Noiri ahead of interim title clash at ONE 172 in Japan

ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai and Japanese kickboxing great Masaaki Noiri are fully prepared for their co-main event bout at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on Sunday, March 23. The Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will host the event.

To close out the ONE 172 pre-fight press conference on Monday, March 17, the headliners had their staredowns. When it was Tawanchai and Noiri's turn for the faceoff, there was a certain electricity in the air since their clash will have the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship hanging in the balance.

Check out their heated staredown below in a video shared by ONE on Instagram:

This steely determination is nothing new for both men, as they are vying for the right to set up a unification bout with ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon at a later date.

Tawanchai and Noiri are both coming off wins this past January at ONE 170. The former notched a TKO win over Superbon to defend the 155-pound Muay Thai crown, while Noiri logged his first win as a ONE athlete with a leg-breaking knockout of Shakir Al-Tekreeti.

ONE 172 will be available live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

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Masaaki Noiri shares his excitement about fighting Tawanchai at ONE 172

Fans are excited to see whether Masaaki Noiri will have what it takes to win his first ONE world championship with a landmark win over Tawanchai, and the 31-year-old feels the exact same way.

During the ONE 172 press conference, the Team Vasileus product stated:

"I'm really looking forward to this fight strongly, and I understand that he's a really strong fighter in Muay Thai, but also in kickboxing, too. I choose ONE Championship to prove my strong points. So please look forward to this fight."

Watch the entire press conference below: